The present invention relates generally to the synthesis of enzyme-catalyzed polymers and more particularly to the synthesis of an enzyme-catalyzed, polymerized monolayer.
Highly conjugated, enzyme-catalyzed polymers have been found to possess desirable optical, electrical, and/or mechanical properties. Consequently, a need for producing such polymers clearly exists. Unfortunately, the methods currently in use for producing such polymers often result in polymers which cannot be processed easily into films, fibers, membranes, or other desirable structures. In addition, these same methods often result in polymers having a high degree of cross-linking and branching, which tends to disrupt the directionality of the electronic and/or optical properties of the polymers.
The Langmuir-Blodgett technique has been used for many years to form unpolymerized monolayer or monomolecular films. Generally speaking, the Langmuir-Blodgett technique involves filling an open basin with a liquid subphase typically comprising a quantity of water and/or a water-miscible solvent. A small number of molecules, each molecule typically having a hydrophilic head group and a hydrophobic tail, are then deposited at the air-subphase interface. The molecules orient themselves at the air-subphase interface so that the hydrophilic head groups are in contact with the subphase and the hydrophobic tails are projected into the air. Because only a small number of molecules are typically spread over the air-subphase interface, the molecules are initially separated far apart relative to one another. A movable barrier in the basin is then used to compress the air-subphase interface until the molecules disposed thereat arrange themselves in an ordered, two-dimensional lattice. This lattice, which takes the form of a monomolecular or monolayer film, is then typically removed from the trough and deposited on a desired substrate. Frequently, more than one monolayer is constructed in this manner, the monolayers being used to form a multi-layered laminate.
Because the molecules of a typical Langmuir-Blodgett film are not bonded together, but rather, are held in place by their lattice arrangement, many such films have poor mechanical stability and cannot be processed into useful structures. In an attempt to increase the mechanical stability of such films, efforts have recently been focused on various thermal, photochemical, and chemical catalytic means for polymerizing the constituent molecules of these monolayer films. One such known approach involves introducing a diacetylene functional group into the monolayer and then heating or irradiating the film so as to produce a polydiacetylene polymer. Another known approach involves using a vinyl functional group, instead of a diacetylene functional group, to produce a polyvinyl polymer.